Collapsible oars



June 9, 1964 M. VIDAL COLLAPSIBLE OARS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 13, 1962 luvs/"0'72, MANUELV/JML 3 2 Y flT iz mvzy.

June 9, 1964 M. VIDAL COLLAPSIBLE OARS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 13, 1962 United States Patent Oflice 3,135,977 Patented June 9, 1964 3,135,977 COLLAPSIBLE OARS Manuel Vidal, 91 W oodmount Ave., Toronto,

, Ontario, Canada Filed Sept. 13, 1962, Ser. No. 223,382 1 Claim. (Cl. 9-24) The invention relates to improvements in oars, as described in the present specification and shown in the accompanying drawings that form a part of the same.

In propelling a boat through the water by means of conventional oars it is necessary at the end of each power stroke to lift the car out of the water for the return stroke and to re-dip the oar for the next power stroke. This operation to be properly and safely carried out requires considerable skill acquirable through practice and experience, and when attempted by an unskilled person, particularly when the Water is choppy results in at least slow and unsteady progress, discomfort and great needles effort on the part ofthe oarsman and not infrequently results in the boat being tipped and the occupants being thrown into the water.

The main objects of my invention are to reduce to a minimum the effort necessary to propel a boat through the water; to promote the safety of the occupant, or occupants, of the boat; and to provide an oar structure of simple and durable construction which is easy to handle and which can be produced at reasonable cost.

I overcome the disadvantages of heretofore known oars and accomplish the objects of my invention by the provision of oars wherein the blades are composed of pivoted sections which during each power stroke are automatically extendedto provide adequate pressure against the water to move the boat therethrough and are automatically collapsible at the end of each power stroke whereby the return stroke is accomplished with the minimum of resistance by the water and Without the necessity of lifting the oar out of the water.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel features of construction, arrangements of parts set out in the present specification, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and more particularly pointed out in the claim for novelty following.

In describing the invention, reference will be made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is atop plan view of that part of one side of a boat to which an oar is applied, the oar being shown in full in one position and being shown broken in other positions.

FIGURE 2 is an end view of FIGURE 1 with the oar in the water and the blade sections as in the power stroke.

FIGURE 3 is a vertical sectional view through a portion of the hull to show the rowlock in its mounting, the rowlock being partly in vertical section.

FIGURE 4 is a plan view of an oar having its blade sections extended, portions of the hande being broken away and the blade and handle being foreshortened.

FIGURES 5 and 6 are cross sectional views taken on the lines 5-5 and 6-6, respectively, of FIGURE 4, alternate positions of the blade sections being shown in broken lines.

FIGURE 7 is an end view looking towards the outer end of the oar.

FIGURE 8 is an end view looking towards the outer end of the handle showing a modified means for securing the handle to the blade carrying member.

Like numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in the various figures.

Referring to the drawings 1 denotes a portion of the stern and 2 denotes a portion of one side wall of a conventional row boat to which an oar constructed according to my invention is removably applied through the medium of a' rowlock 3 which is suitably mounted in a sleeve 4 embedded in the top edge of the side wall.-

The oar which constitutes my invention comprises broadly a blade carrier 5, a blade 6 consisting of hinged blade sections carried by the member 5, and a handle 7 detachably secured to the blade carrier.

The blade carrier 5 is made from heavy gauge aluminurn extruded or othewise made to provide an intermediate elongated body portion 8 of generally triangular cross section, a reduced portion 9 extending endwise beyond one end of said triangularly cross sectioned part terminating in a closure 10 of semi-spherical form, and a reduced portion 11 at the other end of said body part 8 merging into an open-ended sleeve 12, the latter being threaded internally, as at 13, to receive the exteriorly threaded end 14 of the oar handle 7.

The substantially triangularly cross sectioned part 8 corresponds substantially in length to the blade sections 6 and one side wall thereof, herein shown as the wall 15 which is adapted to provide the backing for the blade sections in the power stroke of the oar, being of somewhat greater thickness than the other two side walls and being concaved transversely, as shown at 17.

The blade 6 consists of three sections, namely, a narrow metal plate 18 which extends the full length of the side 15 of the triangularly cross sectioned blade carrier and is fixed thereto by a plurality of screws 19 arranged at intervals along the plate and screwing into said side wall 15, and wings 20 and 21 hinged to said plate 18 along opposite side edges of said plate through the medium of hinge pins 22 extending through longitudinally registering openings of laterally extending curled portions of the plate 18 and the wings 20 and 21, alternately arranged. The curled extensions of the sections 18, 20 and 21 are adapted to lie within grooves 24 which are formed in the surface of the side 15.

The fixed plate 18 is relatively narrow with respect to the transverse width of the side 15 of the blade carrier and is fixed medially of the side edges of said side 15 whereby there is provided at opposite edges of the plate a centrally inclined shoulder 25 of considerable width which shoulders together cooperate to provide abutrnents for the inner portions of the wing sections 20 and 21 to limit the spread of the said sections during the power stroke and so provide the required resistance to the water to give the maximum driving force during the power stroke and also to give slightly transverse concave form to the side of the blade which forcibly engages the water. The outer corners of the wing sections are preferably rounded, as shown at 22a.

As means to limit the collapsing movement of the blade sections to somewhat divergent relation at the finish of the return stroke in readiness for the next power stroke, so as to insure proper spread of the blade sections on sad power stroke, an elongated block 26 of the required width and having its sides appropriately inclined outwards, as shown at 27, is mounted over the fixed hinge plate 18 and is secured to the side 15 of the blade carrier by means of screws 28 extended through said block and the said plate 18 and threading into, or through, the side 15.

The handle 7 is preferably of circular cross section and is held to adjusted relation with respect to the interiorly threaded end 12 of the blade carrier by means of a screw 29 threading through the wall of the reduced 30 of suitable In use the oars of the present invention are placed in the rowlocks in such positions that the sides of the wing sections which forcibly engage the water in the power strokes face away from the oarsman and the apices of the substantially triangularly cross sectioned blade carriers will face towards the oarsrnan. With the oars so positioned the boat is propelled through the water by pulling on the handles 7 in the power strokes and at the end of each stroke returning the oars to their positions in readiness for the next power stroke while keeping the blades constantly immersed in the water. During the pull on the oar handles the wings will be spread apart through pressure contact with the water so that they will instantly be brought into abutment with the faces of the sides of the blade carriers at opposite sides of the fixed plates 18 and so cause forward movement of the boat, while upon completion of the power stroke the pressure of the water against the opposite sides of the oar sections, aided by outward pressure on the oar handles by the oarsrnan, will cause said sections to be pivoted on their hinges towards one another into positions behind the faces 15 of the respective blade carriers and into abutment with the outwardly inclined sides of the blocks 26, where they will not offer any resistance to the water until the oar handles are again pulled to effect another power stroke. It will be noted that during the return movement of the oars for subsequent power strokes the apices of the blade carriers 5 will cut water and so reduce resistance to a minimum. The movements of the blade sections of an oar during the rowing process are illustrated clearly in FIGURE 1.

In FIGURE 8 a modification of the means for locking the handle and the sleeve 12 of the blade carrier is shown as comprising a butterfly screw 30 in place of a slotted screw as shown in FIGURE 4.

While I have shown and described herein the present preferred construction and arrangements of parts for carrying out my invention, these are capable of variation and modification. I, therefore, do not wish to be limited to the precise details of construction and arrangements set out herein but desire to avail myself of such variations and modifications as come within the scope of the appended claim.

What I claim as my invention is:

An oar comprising a hollow blade carrier of triangular cross section, one side of said blade carrier constituting the forward face in the rowing operation, said forward face being concaved transversely, blade means comprising a plate relatively narrow with respect to said forward face and wing sections hinged along their one edges to said plate along opposite side edges of the latter for movement away from and towards each other in the power and return strokes respectively of the oar, said plate being fixed to said face medially of the side edges of said face whereby there are provided at opposite side edges of said plate portions of said face adapted to provide abutments for inner marginal portions of said wing sections to limit the spread of said wings on each power stroke, a block mounted on said plate and extending lengthwise thereof, said block having sides inclined laterally to provide abutments to limit the movement of said wing sections towards one another to diverging relationship, and a handle having detachable connection with said carrier.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

